


The Tides of Time

by Rarou



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Gen, Inspired by Living dreams by MaiKusakabe, Marco needs a hug, Marineford Never Happened, Not Beta Read, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29322711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rarou/pseuds/Rarou
Summary: The enormity of it all crashes on to Marco. He wants to cry, to scream, to transform and fly away and never stop. But he won’t do any of those things. As impossible as it seems , Davy Jones has deemed fit to grant him a second chance and he won’t waste it. He’ll save his family  even if he has to die trying.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco & Portgas D. Ace, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco & Shirohige | Whitebeard | Edward Newgate, Shirohige | Whitebeard | Edward Newgate & Whitebeard Pirates
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	The Tides of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, This is my first fanfic. All constructive criticism is welcome. I hope you all enjoy it. This was inspired by MaiKusakabe's fic Living Dream https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/10642797?view_adult=true

He hears the gentle waves and the creaking of wood. The soft bed he lays on has a gentle rocking motion. His head feels like it’s filled with cotton and his limbs feel like lead. But he forces himself to open his eyes and sees a wooden ceiling with a familiar stain. 

Turning his head to the right and sees a wooden wall. Turning his head to the left, he sees a familiar desk covered in papers next to a bookshelf. With a rising sense of forboding, Marco pulls himself up and looks around the entire room. It’s his cabin on the Moby Dick. 

It couldn’t be possible. Was it an illusion caused by a devil fruit user? If so, it’s frighteningly realistic. Every detail exactly as he remembers. Marco gets out of bed His hands are shaking and his fingers are clenched so tight they’re numb. His breath is coming in quick succession and he’s beginning to feel light headed as a feeling of dread envelopes him. He feels as though everything is closing in, suffocati ng him.

He needs to get his breathing under control and figure out how to get out of this illusion. If this is a new devil fruit power that belongs to a member of the Blackbeard pirates then Marco and his allies were in grave danger. There’s no telling what’s the reach of these powers. He won’t let Blackbeard kill him like this. Not after travelling this far with the Straw Hat pirates.

_BANG!!_

The door flies open and Ace barges. Everything about him is the same from his hat, to his tattoos, to his boisterous voice. And it hurts even after all these years Ace’s death still hurts. A giant gaping wound that never quite healed right. It feels like someone punched him in the gut. Even if it’s an illusion, he can’t hurt him. 

When Ace starts approaching him, Marco tries to scramble away. But there’s nowhere to go. Ace’s hands are on him and he can’t get away. He can’t breathe. He can’t get away from this fake Ace. He is drowning. He can’t breathe. He’s pushing and pushing, Until finally darkness claims him as his head hits the ground.

* * *

Marco wakes up confused. He is in a soft bed. There is the soft clacking of heels and a gentle breeze. Looking around, Marco instantly recognizes the infirmary on the Moby Dick. It’s situated just below the deck near the back of the ship. It had wide windows that allowed sunlight and fresh air to filter in and it had 5 dozen beds separated by curtains.

The clacking gets closer.Behind the curtains emerged Lisa, the head doctor. And Marco’s breath catches in his throat. He hasn’t seen her since Pops funeral. Since the Whitebeard pirates disbanded. 

“Oh! Marco, you’re awake. How are you feeling? You know you gave Ace quite a scare passing out like that.”

Lisa’s tone is light but Marco knows she’s worried. He can see it in the way her brows are furrowed and the slight downturn of her lips, the way she grips her clipboard just a little too tight.

As he notes all this Marco can’t help but wonder how somebody would know all this about Lisa and include it in this illusion. Maybe it isn’t a devil fruit power but just his sanity finally slipping. It wouldn’t be the first time his mind has played tricks on him.

“Marco?” 

Lisa’s voice brings him back from his spiralling thoughts. She asked him a question, didn’t she? He wants to answer her even if she’s not real.But his tongue is glued to the roof of his mouth and his throat feels so dry. He still forces himself to answer.

“I’m fine,”he croaks out.

Lisa raises a brow,” Really Marco? You couldn’t have sounded less convincing.”

“You try sounding great with a dry throat.”

“Mina, can you get our dear commander water?”

“Of course!”chirped a voice next to Marco, startling him. He hadn’t even noticed her. Her blue hair whirling behind her as she leaves.

And yet again he is shocked by the amount of detail in this illusion world. Mina is exactly as he remembers, her smile bright enough to light up the whole room. Just like it was before Marineford took it away.

“It’s unusual for you to be this unaware of your surroundings,”noted Lisa.

Before he could respond, Mina was back, thrusting a glass of water in his hands.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks”

He drinks at all in one go. His throat felt much better.

“Well, someone is thirsty.” 

“You would also be if you had to spend however long passed out on this cot.” T he banter came back to him with startling ease. Like he had never left the Moby Dick and it’s residents. 

“Don’t you have rounds to do Mina?” cut in Lisa.

“But Lisa I want to know how Marco is doing.”

“You, and everybody else on this ship. You should get going before Leo notices.”

“Fine,” she huffed and turned on her heels. 

Before leaving, she turns and gives him a smile.

“Get well soon ok, everybody’s worried.”

Lisa then turns towards him and gently taps on her clipboard.

“So, you passed out in your room. I’d like to know what happened.”

“I don’t really know. I woke up a bit disoriented. Ace came in and I passed out.” 

Marco kept his explanation short and concise.The last thing he wanted to do was to explain to an illusion of his older sister how he had a panic attack and passed out.

“Really? From what Ace told me you looked pretty panicked. You pushed him away like you were trying to get away from him.”

“Like I said Lisa, I was pretty disoriented. I didn’t really know what was happening.”

The frown between her brows deepens. She doesn’t believe him, not that he’d believe himself with such a weak excuse. 

“What caused the disorientation?”

Marco shrugs.

“A nightmare? A hallucination? This is pretty serious.If it happens during battle you could be-”

“It won’t happen again Lisa. Don’t worry,”interrupts Marco.

“So you know what caused it,” accuses Lisa, “I’m only here to help you. I don’t want a repeat of the chicken incident.”

“That was one time and no one lets me forget it.”

“It was more than once and yes, I tend to remember when my normally cheerful and calm little brother decides to go off the rails because he kept repressing his emotions,” she said as Marco rolled his eyes, earning him smack from his sister.

“ Look Lisa this is definitely a one-time thing trust me.”

“All right, I’ll trust you on this but if something triggers this again you come to me. Understand?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Good,” said Lisa nodding her head with a satisfied smile, “you'll be staying in the infirmary for observation just for a day. After that you’re free to leave. If I find out you decided to leave before that, I’ll personally shackle you to the bed with seastone,” her smile turning sharp.

“Got it.” 

“Now that that's cleared up, let me examine you.”

Marco opens his mouth to argue.

“I don’t want to hear how your phoenix powers heal everything. I will examine you myself until I’m satisfied.”

Marco lets her.There’s no point in arguing with a healer, they always get what they want. Once she’s satisfied that he isn’t on the verge of dying, Lisa turns on heels and leaves.

* * *

Alone, Marco sits there numb. He doesn’t know what to do, his mind swirling. He needs to leave. He needs to rejoin the Luffy and the others in their fight against Blackbeard. He can’t be lured in by this world and its promise of his family, whole and intact, never touched by the events of the war. Before everything he ever knew fell apart around and he couldn’t even keep the pieces of his family together. Before Pops _died, sacrificed himself_ , don’t think about it.

_Breath in. Breath out._

He can’t fall apart, not now, not when the stakes are so high. Not when it’s his new _family_ nakama that will pay the price. He’ll have to keep it together just until the battle is over, just until they’re safe again.

_Breath in. Breath out._

He needs this illusion, this dream to stop.

He needs to get out of here. The walls are closing in. He can’t breathe.

_Breath in. Hold. Breath out.Think about it._

It couldn’t be a dream. The beginning was never this clear. And his dreams _(nightmares)_ , were never this pleasant or lasted this long. There were no dead bodies Pops or Ace or Thatch to yell at him, to accuse him off -

_Stop. Don’t think about that. Breath. In.Out. In.Out._

Think. That brain of yours is one of the reasons you _are_ were the commander of the first division.

This has to be an illusion. Even it’s too detailed. Even if there are things that only a member of the Whitebeard would know. Even if a member of blackbeards crew would never make such a nice illusion. Because the alternative is just too surreal, even for the grand line. _Maybe he travelled back in_. NO! He can’t hope. Not with how many times it's been snatched away, shattered. His heart wouldn’t be able to take it. 

There is only one way to find out. He can’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before. He expands his observation haki and feels his family. It’s the one thing that can’t be changed or replicated, a person's haki signature, _their voice_.

He can feel Thatch’s _happiness_ in the kitchen, something he thought would never happen again. Namur is fishing _contently_ with Haruta and Curiel sparring nearby, all of them with their guard down because what could harm them on the Moby Dick, on their home.And Ace is sitting on one of the main masts _alive_ and _no hole_ in his chest. And Pops _alive_ and _larger than life_ sitting on his chair and laughing along at something. As he continues stretching his senses he feels all of his family happy and unburdened.

The enormity of it all crashes on to Marco. He wants to cry, to scream, to transform and fly away and never stop. But he won’t do any of those things. As impossible as it seems , Davy Jones has deemed fit to grant him a second chance and he won’t waste it. He’ll save his family even if he has to die trying.

He’s going to have to pretend like everything is fine. Like he doesn’t want to rip that bastard Teach’s head clean off.Like he was the Marco of yesterday who was terrible at lying to his family. Who wasn’t hardened by Pops death.

Who didn’t have to put on a brave face for his grieving siblings. Who didn’t have to fight against the world just to make sure his siblings found a new home, a new crew because the world _(Blackbeard, the Marines)_ was out to destroy them now that their protector was gone.

But he could do it. He’d survived so much, and he would go through this. Even if seeing everyone _(Pops, Ace, Thatch)_ was going to hurt like hell but he would do it for his family, for Ace, for Luffy so that they could all have a better future.


End file.
